Her Mother's Killer

by Schroeder, Melissa

  “Did you bring me a note?”

  He shook his head and handed it to her. “I found it on the railing.”

  She paused, everything in her seemed to freeze for a moment and then she nodded.

  He cocked his head to the side and studied her. “Something wrong?”

  She drew in a deep breath, looked away. A gust of wind lifted the ends of her hair and he noticed she was wearing an old gray sweatshirt and worn jeans.

  “Why don’t you come in and we can talk about it.”

  He nodded and followed her into the house. As yesterday, the changes he saw in just a couple of days amazed him. The furniture was the same, but there was already so much of Thea here. Pictures on the wall, extra pillows on the couch, along with a throw or two. It felt more like a home than any of its previous occupants had made it feel.

  Once they reached the kitchen, she set the envelope down on the island. Her expression told him nothing. “I have a feeling you aren’t going to like this.”

  He had a feeling too, but he didn’t say anything because he didn’t want to fight with her.

  “I think I know what’s in the letter.”

  Glancing at the envelope, then back up to her, he asked, “Why don’t you tell me about it?”

  She sighed. “Do you want some coffee?”

  He nodded, even though he didn’t really want any. But she seemed to need something to calm her nerves. “Black.”

  She poured two cups, doctored hers the way he’d seen her do it at Gwen’s, and then brought them to the counter. After taking a sip, she said, “It isn’t the first one I’ve gotten.”

  He paused in taking his own sip of coffee. “And?”

  She set down her mug then scrubbed her hands over her face. While watching her, he noticed things he failed to see before. Dark circles marred the delicate skin beneath her eyes. He sensed she was tired, but he had thought it might be from getting the house set to rights. But at this moment, with her eyes closed and her face so pale, she looked fragile, in a way he’d never seen her before.

  “Thea.”

  She opened her eyes and sighed. “This is only the second one I’ve gotten since I got back, but if it is what I am sure it is, I was getting them in Atlanta.”

  Keeping his gaze on her, he picked up the envelope and ripped it open. He quickly read the three-lined note. By the time he finished, anger boiled in his belly, rising up, almost choking him. He carefully set it down on the counter realizing he’d contaminated evidence.

  “Explain.”

  It was not a question and the quick anger he saw in her gaze told him that she understood.

  “About two years ago, I started getting letters.” She shrugged. “I didn’t think much of it at first because Jason didn’t make a big deal out of it.”

  Jackass. “And you never went to the police?”

  She threw her hands up in the air. “I was married to a police officer, Duncan. If he thought it was nothing, why would I worry?”

  “Okay, so he ignored it, which tells me he sucks as a cop.” Her lips quirked at that. “How often did they come?”

  “Not that often and sometimes they would show up at the restaurant. They were spaced so far apart, it didn’t hit me at first that I had more than one. It was when they started showing up every week that I realized how long it had been going on.”

  Fury boiled in his belly. The only thing keeping him from going after her ex was the fact he was in Atlanta. A police officer who took such threats to his wife so lightly should be kicked out of the service. He flexed his fingers thinking of wrapping them around the man’s neck.

  Some of what he was thinking must have shown on his face.

  “Listen, I know it was stupid, but I really didn’t think. Jason and I were already having problems and I was working seven days a week at the restaurant… I just didn’t have time to think about it.”

  “You shouldn’t have been the one thinking about it.” He took a couple moments to calm his anger. It wouldn’t do either of them any good. “So, you have received one here?”

  She nodded. “The first day. In my car.”

  “Do you still have it?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ll need it. Do you have any of the ones from Atlanta?”

  “No. Jason said…”

  “Jason said what?”

  “Jason said it wasn’t important.”

  Bastard. He settled his hands on his hips. “Jed doesn’t know about this? Of course he doesn’t. There is no way he would have headed back to Austin otherwise. Hell, he would have moved to Atlanta if he knew about them. Did this have anything to do with your accident in Atlanta?”

  She shrugged. “They stopped after the accident but I assumed that was because I spent so much time in the hospital. It was as if I dropped off the face of the earth.”

  He nodded. “You have no idea at all who it might be? Someone who could have followed you here?”

  “I can’t think of anyone.”

  “Do you think your ex might have done it?”

  “What for? He was getting what he wanted. I don’t see what he would have gained from that.”

  He sighed. “Were you ready to give up the restaurant at that point?”

  “No, but I’m pretty sure he didn’t. Mainly because…”

  She suddenly looked wary, her gaze straying from his to the counter.

  “What?”

  “Mama got them before she was killed.”

  Thea winced at the stream of profanity that spilled from Duncan’s lips. His face was tightened in anger, a vein throbbing in his temple.

  When he spoke, his voice was low and controlled, deadly soft. “Are you telling me that your mother received the same types of notes?”

  She cleared her throat and knew if she didn’t calm him down, he would be running to Jed. “Maybe we should sit down.” He released her arm and strode over to the table. “It started about two years before…before Dad went missing.” She sat down and he slumped in the chair next to hers, his elbows on the table. “I remember something about Mama talking to Sheriff Daily, but I don’t know what came of it. My father and Daily had it out, a huge fight. I didn’t know what it was about at the time.”

  “You never told Jed?”

  She shrugged. “Why? There was no way of proving who did it then. Hell, I know half the town thinks Dad killed her and ran away. The other half thinks she killed herself.” He looked away and she knew she was right.

  “Did you tell your husband?”

  “Ex-husband. At first no, but then when I started getting the letters, I told him. He thought it was a sign of my problems, as he liked to call them.”

  His eyes narrowed into slits as he studied her for a few moments and she squirmed uncomfortable with his scrutiny. “Problems?”

  “I spent five months in the hospital after the accident. Jed told you, I know, but the problems had been going on for months. My marriage had been on the rocks for months and I was working twelve-hour days. He moved out about a year after the letters started.”

  “Could it have been your ex?”

  “Jason? No. He didn’t know about my parents’ deaths, and he definitely didn’t know about the letters.”

  “Jed thinks he might have had something to do with your wreck.”

  She shook her head. “No, he had an alibi for that evening.”

  He sat back in the chair and studied her again. She realized he was doing it on purpose and lifted her chin just to let him know he wasn’t intimidating her.

  “We have to tell Jed.”

  Her blood chilled, her heart froze. “No. No way, Duncan.”

  “He’ll kill me if he finds out I knew and didn’t tell him.”

  “No. Think about it. He will go off half-cocked. You know he gets too personally involved in cases, and this one would push him over the edge.” She pushed back from the table and stood, backing away from it and trying to put some distance between them. “I came here to put it all to rest.”


  He bolted out of the chair with a speed that amazed her. He grabbed her by the upper arms, his fingers biting into her flesh. Leaning down, he growled, “You will do no such thing, Thea. I see what you’re thinking, and I can’t let you do it.”

  “I can do what I want, but I wasn’t planning on doing it alone. I wanted to tell you but I wanted to be sure.”

  “Be sure? Of what?”

  She wiggled out of his grasp and stood up. She needed space, needed to be able to think straight and she couldn’t at the moment. Not with him so close she could feel his heat. It made her want to do stupid things, like lean closer for comfort. That would lead to problems she didn’t have the capacity to deal with.

  “I wanted to be sure it wasn’t all in my mind.”

  “What do you mean?”

  She drew in a deep breath. “You don’t know how bad it was before my accident. It was bad. With my problems, there were moments when I thought I might have been doing it myself. I was the only one who knew about the letters.”

  “Let me guess. The ex liked to play head games.”

  She laughed but there was little humor in it. “He was a world-class champion.” She shoved a hand through her hair. “And I promise, I was planning on telling you.”

  He didn’t look like he believed her. “Do you know what your mother’s letters said?”

  She nodded. “Actually, I can give them to you.”

  Everything in him seemed to still. “You have them?”

  “Yes. I didn’t know it at first. They were tucked away at the bottom of a chest. I had no idea I had them until I started moving out of my house.”

  “You mean you had them in the house you and your ex shared?”

  She nodded.

  “You know I can’t let you do this.”

  She studied him for a moment trying to decide how much he figured out. Thea decided to play stupid. “Do what?”

  He let loose an exasperated sigh. “Don’t try to bullshit me. You’ve made yourself a target.”

  “I’m not any more of a target than I was before I came here.”

  “Okay. That’s true.” He looked up at the ceiling, then around the room. “We have a problem.”

  “And what would that be?”

  “I can’t let you stay here by yourself.”

  Trepidation danced down her spine. “I can’t move back to Gwen’s. That would put her in danger.”

  He nodded as he raised his gaze to hers. “I know that. But I can’t leave you here alone.”

  She frowned trying to reason through his thinking and then it hit her. “I don’t want protection. I don’t know who I can trust. Besides, you don’t have the manpower, and putting a cop out in front of my house will just draw attention to me. I’ll have every weirdo in the county bothering me.”

  “I was thinking more of protecting from the inside.”

  Thea narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean?”

  He leaned against the counter, crossed his arms, and offered her an evil smile. “I figured it was time the two of us became roommates.”

  Chapter Seven

  Duncan shoved a hand through his hair and tried to focus on the report in front of him. He’d been trying to work for damn near thirty minutes, but his mind just refused to cooperate. This morning’s conversation with Thea had him so angry, he couldn’t think straight.

  He blew out a long breath and leaned back in his chair. He’d chewed out both Richard and Gina. Richard deserved it for his insubordination. That was nothing new and something Duncan figured he’d have to deal with after he was through with Thea’s mess. Gina, well, that had been a mistake. From the look in her eyes, he would definitely be paying for his temper for at least a month.

  Closing his eyes, he tried his best to get his mind back to work but it was a wash. Granted, the problems with Thea were part of his job. That is, the ones dealing with the stalking. And that was the problem. She was now considered part of the job and there could be no…fraternization.

  He opened his eyes and stared unseeingly out the window. That was it in a nutshell. Duncan wanted her, planned to have her, and now this. He couldn’t very well sleep with her while he was on the case. It would fog his ability to protect her. He’d been down that road before and he didn’t want to go back there.

  It had been at least a year since he’d thought about Jessica. She’d been another Texas Ranger, tough as nails, a pain in the ass. He’d fallen head over heels the first time she told him to kiss her ass. And it had been his love that had gotten her killed. In a split second, he’d froze, unable to make a decision. He’d lost her, gotten shot himself, and left the Rangers.

  He shook his head, pulling his thoughts out of the past and into the present. It was going to be hard to keep it quiet that he was bunking out at Thea’s. She was going to pick him up at his house, but still there were eyes around and it wouldn’t take long before someone saw them together. Especially when he wasn’t getting any side benefits. Granted, he didn’t mind if people thought they were sleeping together. Thea wouldn’t be happy, and there was a chance it could make him a target, instead of her. If this man was obsessed with her, he wouldn’t want anyone near her.

  His cell phone rang and he smiled when he recognized her number. He clicked it on. She didn’t even say hello.

  “When the hell do you want me to pick you up?”

  He smiled, he couldn’t help it. Call him sick, but he loved a woman with a smart mouth. “I’m about to shut down my computer and head home. Should take me thirty minutes. What’s for dinner?”

  She snorted. “You expect me to feed you?”

  His smile widened into a grin as he felt some of his earlier irritation drain away. “You are a world-class chef. I thought I should take advantage of that while I could.”

  She huffed. “You’ll eat what I put in front of you.”

  He laughed, then sobered. “No more messages.”

  “No.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Listen, Perry. I’d know if I had gotten a call or a letter.”

  “Okay. Make sure you go straight to my house.”

  “Bite me.” And she hung up. He knew she would. Thea was a lot of things, but she wasn’t stupid. He knew she would’ve contacted him about the letters. She might have waited longer if he hadn’t found the one today.

  As he shut down his computer, he mulled over the case a bit. They were going to sit down and go over the letters tonight, but he dreaded the suspect list. It was twenty years later and many suspects might’ve moved, died…disappeared. It wasn’t going to be easy, and he was going to have to hunt up old Sheriff Dailey for help.

  But, he thought with a smile, he was going to have a world-class dinner with a beautiful woman tonight. There was one thing he could take comfort in.

  * * * *

  Thea moved around the kitchen, preparing a simple meal for the two of them. She wasn’t truly in the mood to cook, but then again, it helped her work off some of her frustration. Duncan wasn’t helping because every time she said something to him, he would just smile and answer whatever question she put to him.

  It was pissing her off more.

  “So what was the reason for picking you up at your house?”

  He flicked her a glance, then looked back at one of her mother’s letters. His lips quirked before he asked, “Do you want me to park in front of your house? Everyone in town would know.”

  She huffed out an irritated grunt and grabbed a package of chicken from the fridge. “Who the hell cares?”

  “I don’t, but it might get back to Jed.”

  Because she knew he was right—and that irritated her even more—she slammed the package down on her counter. “He doesn’t talk to anyone but you.”

  “I doubt that very much, especially now that you’re here. Do you really want him to come sniffing around? I thought you wanted him to stay away.”

  He hadn’t looked up from reading and she didn’t respond. Thea knew she was peri
lously close to sounding like a ten year old. Instead, she slid the chicken between some parchment paper and started pounding it with the mallet. She was making so much noise, she didn’t notice that he was standing behind her until he rested his hands on her waist. She stopped mid-pound. Her heartbeat accelerated, the heat in her body transformed from anger to arousal.

  “Thea.”

  Her breath caught in her throat the moment she heard the gentleness in his voice. Shivers raced down her spine as goose bumps rose across her flesh.

  “Everything’s gonna to be fine.”

  She closed her eyes and leaned her head forward, her chin dropping to her chest.

  “I know. It’s…”

  He pulled her back against him, using the warmth of his body to calm her. She dropped the mallet she didn’t realize she was holding.

  She lifted her head, then leaned it back against his chest. She could feel his heart beating against her back, feel her muscles relax.

  “Nothing more is going to go wrong. We’ll find out who is doing this, and who killed your mother and father.”

  Tears burned the back of her eyes. She blinked to hold them at bay. He used his hands to turn her to face him, but she stared at his chest. Slipping his knuckle under her chin, he raised her head. His gray eyes were filled with understanding and tenderness. Thea could no longer keep the tears from falling and felt them sliding down her face. Duncan rubbed his thumb over her cheeks then her bottom lip. As he was lowering her head, her cell phone rang, breaking the spell.

  She stepped back, bumped into the counter. Duncan held her still, helping her gain her balance and smiled down at her. “Better answer that.”

  She nodded and picked up the phone. The moment she saw the number, she silently cursed, but answered it anyway.

  Duncan watched the flush gather in her cheeks, but he knew this had nothing to do with arousal and everything to do with anger.

  “Jason,” she said, her voice strained. “What do you want?”

  She was silent while she listened to the ex. Duncan was so close to her, he could hear the voice murmur on the other end of the line. Even though he wanted to lean closer, try and decipher what that bastard wanted, he stepped away, trying to give himself some time to think. Because he hadn’t been thinking at all.